Morrigan Aensland
Morrigan Aensland is a fictional character in the video game series Darkstalkers. She first appeared in Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (Vampire: The Night Warriors in Japan). She is an anti-hero and a main protagonist alongside Demitri Maximoff. In the series main canon, Morrigan's father, Belial Aensland, had split her power into three. Later in the events of Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire, Jedah Dohma would find part of this power and give it a body as Lilith. Morrigan was original voiced by Yayoi Jinguji through out the series and in various crossovers. She would later be voiced by Rie Tanaka in both Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Onimusha Soul. Background Morrigan Aensland is a succubus who was born in 1678 in a region of Scotland. Belial foresaw that Makai would be exposed to the crisis of perishing soon. Someone, a great Life Form, would be needed to maintain the unbalanced world of Makai. He foresaw that one with such power would not be born in the family of Aensland for another 1,200 years. Knowing this, he decided to leave the future of the Aensland family in Morrigan's hands. To Belial, the future of the Aensland family was the same as the future of Makai. Morrigan was a very special Succubus, even within all of the Darkstalkers. She was born as an S Class noble. But at that time, roughly 300 years ago, a struggle for power had already started. Various battles had occurred in various locations. It was unacceptable for a Succubus child to be given rights to power at the time. The problems didn't end there either. Morrigan had no way to control the enormous powers that she held within. If she were to be left alone, she would destroy herself and the land around her. Belial, her adoptive father and head of the Aensland House, split her soul in three to protect her; one he kept within himself, and another in a pocket dimension. Morrigan grew up without knowing this. She found her life in the Aensland castle dull and visited the human world time and time again to look for some kind of fun. One night, she was drawn to the strange power permeating from Pyron and ventured into the human world again. After she came back from the human world, she was told that Belial died and she was the next successor to the throne of the Aensland family. Due to Belial's death, the 1/3 power he split from Morrigan during her childhood returns to merge with her. Although she is rightfully the ruler of Makai, she avoids her duties and continues her life like before. But when Jedah created the Majigen, she and her castle are pulled into Jedah's dimension. Sensing Lilith, the now sentient remainder of her soul sealed off, and released by Jedah, Morrigan set off hoping to find some sort of enjoyment. After meeting with Lilith, she was finally able to return to her true self when the both of them fused back together into one. Whether Morrigan truly accepted her fate to be Makai's ruler after the events of Vampire Savior remains to be seen, but various media such as the crossover series suggests she may have accepted this, to an extent. After the events of Vampire Savior, Morrigan Aensland defeated and Destroyed Jedah, ending His evil reign of terror over both Human and Demon's worlds. Personality Beautiful, sexy, confident, conceited, and playful, Morrigan may be called many things given that she is a succubus, but she is not necessarily evil despite her heritage as a demon of the Makai realm. Instead she is friendly and approachable, perhaps in part due to her frequent visits to the material world to pursue her hedonistic tendencies. Morrigan is always out to satisfy her hunger and will often shirk her responsibilities as the current head of the Aensland estate to find something more engaging. About Aensland succubi It is generally said that the Succubus race absorbs the spirit of the opposite sex and uses it as their own energy source. But the succubi that live in the Aensland family are slightly different. They create a special secretion liquid in their body when they are either physically or mentally stimulated. They use this liquid to maintain their life. If one were to be trapped inside a small secluded area, she would die within two days due to the lack of stimulus. This is because the liquid needed to maintain her life can't be secreted. But to make up for this, they have become able to look into the dreams of others. When no stimulus was given, they evolved other ways to look for excitement. When a creature dreams, a special secretion liquid is formed in the brain. A succubus can take this liquid from the outside. Those who have been robbed feel a strange feeling, as if one's dream was completely taken away. This is quite different from not having any memory of a dream. This liquid, which the succubus robbed, is dissolved into the body of the succubus and is composed. Cultural impact A novel concept in Japan at the time (1994), succubi were introduced thanks to Capcom producer Alex Jimenez' suggestion during the development phase of the first arcade game. Since the game already had a vampire in Demitri, Jimenez suggested to change Morrigan from a female vampire to a succubus. According to Jimenez, the Japanese staff didn't know what a succubus was until he explained it and they became excited about the change.GameTrailers. (2016-07-05). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjySkuLk2D4 Darkstalkers: Movie Monsters - Pop Facts]. Online video clip. YouTube. Accessed 2018-02-20. While not the first worldwide, Morrigan was the first notable succubus to appear in Japanese media, making her the paradigm of the succubus that would be used for reference in future productions. Due to succubi's nature, Japanese erotic productions started using them once their mythology became widespread known thanks to Morrigan. Succubi in general started appearing in Japanese media after Morrigan's arrival in the arcades. Morrigan's design has been widely replicated to the point of becoming a mainstay of succubi in manga, anime, video games and the like, particularly her vampire-like motif. In particular, Morrigan has become a darling of the cosplay community worldwide. Other Japanese media pays homage to Morrigan in the form of characters dressing as her, such as in Ultimate Girls. Among media with succubi that take the vampire motif are Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Lilim Kiss, Rotte no Omocha!, Rosario + Vampire and The Testament of Sister New Devil. Examples of popular Japanese media that also feature succubi prominently but with a different design, are Good Luck! Ninomiya-kun, Maria the Virgin Witch and Interviews with Monster Girls, all of which came years later after the Darkstalkers series was introduced. Due to this influence in Japanese popular media, Morrigan is arguably more popular than the Darkstalkers franchise itself to the point where she has had more appearances in other games than the number of existing Darkstalkers games and more than any other character from the series. Appearances Darkstalkers series= *''Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors'' *''Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge'' *''Darkstalkers 3'' *''Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower'' *''Darkstalkers Resurrection'' In Japanese only games *''Vampire Hunter 2'' *''Vampire Savior 2'' *''Vampire Chronicle for Matching Service'' *''Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection'' |-| Other games= |-| Cameos= |-| Other media= Morrigan was a central antagonist in the Darkstalkers' animated series, being forced by Pyron to work under Demitri, who in turn worked under him. In this series, she's a descendant of Morgan le Fay and wants to turn Harry Grimoire into her pupil. She is also in the Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge OVA where she travels to the human's cities on the earth. Trivia *During the development of the original Darkstalkers game, Morrigan was originally going to be a vampire along with Demitri. This was changed later but the bat theme still remains in her design. *﻿It has been a running joke (and a point of criticism) among fans that Morrigan has used the same idle, movement and signature attack sprites since her first appearance. The introduction of her 3D character model in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes finally changed this feature. *As arguably the most well-known Darkstalkers character, Morrigan has made more appearances outside of Darkstalkers games than any other character in the franchise. *Morrigan was the first female Capcom character announced for Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. *In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Morrigan received a DLC costume based on an outfit she wore in Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge OVA, and similarly in one of her winning poses. This outfit was also available for free when pre-ordering the game from GameStop as the costume is grouped with the Femme Fatale pack that includes alternate costumes for X-23, Storm, and Chun-Li. *Like Felicia, Morrigan was voiced consistently in the games up to Cross Edge by her original voice actress, Yayoi Jinguji. As of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 she is now voiced by Rie Tanaka, who was also the voice of Ciel in the Mega Man Zero series. *In the animated series (where she is voiced by Saffron Henderson), Morrigan is given a Scottish accent. This idea is revisited in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (although her English voice actress, Siobhan Flynn, is Welsh), but the accent frequently turns English or disappears altogether. *Kathleen Barr, who voices Morrigan in the English dub of the OVA, had previously voiced Harry's mother in the animated series. *She was named after the Celtic Crow Goddess. *In Skullgirls, one of Ms. Fortune's color palettes is a reference to Morrigan, as is one of Litchi's in BlazBlue. *Lili Rochefort in Tekken 6 can be customized to resemble Morrigan. *In Marvel vs. Capcom 3 her rival is the superhero Iron Man. *Morrigan has been revealed alongside Captain America in the extended gameplay trailer for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, implying that they may be featured together in the games' cinematic story mode. *Morrigan's "Darkness Illusion" command would later be used and standardized by Akuma as the standard "Raging Demon" command. *Morrigan's character design inspired some features for Rouge the Bat from the Sonic the Hedgehog series as both are a little sassy, got similar wings and have a heart motif in their outfits. Sprites Fighting games= Notes: *Morrigan's Darkstalkers sprite was used in every normal 2D fighter she appeared in. *The Marvel vs. Capcom Lilith version is only seen in the original Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes game. The colors were reused in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. *The Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo sprite was also used in Pocket Fighter. |-| Card Fighters= Notes: #Morrigan's costume change seen in her Darkstalkers series victory pose. #Possibly inspired by one of Morrigan's Mighty Combos and various other transformations in Pocket Fighter. |-| Card Fighters DS= Notes #Morrigan's costume change seen in her Darkstalkers series victory pose. #Morrigan appears in this form in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. #Possibly inspired by one of Morrigan's Might Combos and various other transformations in Pocket Fighter. Official artwork Videos Darkstalkers Resurrection Morrigan Moves List|Morrigan Moves List Darkstalkers - Morrigan Character Strategy|Character Strategy Darkstalkers Resurrection Morrigan Ending Movie - Darkstalkers 3|''Darkstalkers 3'' ending Morrigan's Night Warriors Ending|''Night Warriors'' ending References External links *Morrigan at the Capcom Database *Morrigan at StrategyWiki *Morrigan at [[w:c:marvelvscapcom|the Marvel vs. Capcom Wiki]] *Morrigan at [[w:c:projectxzone|the Project X Zone Wiki]] *Morrigan at [[w:c:residentevil|the Resident Evil Wiki]] *Morrigan at the MUGEN Database *Morrigan at Encyclopedia Gamia *Morrigan at Mizuumi Wiki *Morrigan at SuccuWiki Navigation Category:Characters Category:Females Category:Crossover Characters Category:Heroes